WATCHING AND WAITING

Chakotay propped his feet on the railing of the verandah and took a sip from his drink. It was the first thing he had done in over half an hour, besides watching the continuous motion of the waves washing in on the shore just in front of the cottage.

He sighed contentedly. There was something almost hypnotic about the soothing sound of the deep green water combined with the continuous movement of the waves advancing and retreating on the brilliant white sand. Added to the turquoise sky and soft pink clouds, it made for a very colorful planet.

Frowning slightly, he tried to remember the name of the world Voyager was currently orbiting. They were passing through Crenata space, and the only stipulation the authorities had made was that they had to stop at every single planet across the system. Starfleet wasn't the only organization steeped in protocol; apparently, it would be a serious faux pas to skip any of the sixteen Crenatan worlds. In spite of the constant delays this created, it would still save them almost a year's traveling time compared to what it would take if they had to go around the system.

However, the result was that in the last three and a half weeks, they'd visited fourteen planets and attended almost thirty diplomatic functions. Even the captain had eagerly accepted the offer of shore leave that had come from the rulers of - whatever the name of this planet was. He closed his eyes briefly trying to recall it. Enata Four? Or was it Three? As first officer, Chakotay ordinarily remembered details like that, so he must be more tired than he'd realized.

He deliberately let his mind relax. Right now, the question of their location seemed relatively unimportant. The sound of the water lapping at the shore together with the soft, sweetly-scented breeze blowing across his face wove a comfortable blanket of lassitude around him. Since arriving three hours ago, all he had done was sip his bright red fruit drink and watch the endless ebb and flow of the water.

And one more thing - he waited. He was anticipating the arrival of his love. It amused him to think that when he'd decided to move forward with his life and had finally given up waiting for Kathryn Janeway to come to him, he'd somehow believed that this particular activity would no longer be a part of his life. He shook his head wryly at his own foolishness. Well, if he had to wait, at least he couldn't have found a more beautiful or relaxing locale for it had he handpicked the spot himself.

It was a good thing that Voyager hadn't been aware of the expectation within this particular district of Crenata that all ships should visit the planets in order of size the of settlement. Or was it the age of the settlement? At any rate, had they known about that particular protocol, it would have created even more delays while they zigzagged back and forth across the wide district. No matter; while things had been touch and go for a few minutes this morning, Captain Janeway's skill had pulled yet another diplomatic rabbit out of a hat. He'd watched with open wonder as in under ten minutes, once again the captain soothed the ruffled feathers of the offended Crenatans, and had the rulers of the planet practically eating out of her hand.

So many times over the years, he had watched in admiration and amazement as Kathryn Janeway pulled off the impossible. Her brilliant ingenuity, quick thinking and audacious risk taking had saved the ship from disaster time and again. Under her leadership, Starfleet and Maquis had melded together to build a formidable team that enabled Voyager to gobble up space faster than anyone would have believed possible. In under ten years, the journey that was supposed to take seventy-five years would now take them a maximum of only twenty more. And if he knew his captain - and he did - she'd make good on her promise to get them home, and in much less time than that.

Mentally shrugging to himself, he acknowledged it really was impossible to know. While Voyager had encountered a lot of obstacles thus far on their journey, they'd also had a good number of what no one could deny were just plain lucky breaks. It was equally possible that it could take them years, or they could make it home next week.

That remained the primary goal of Captain Janeway, and as first officer, Chakotay steadfastly supported her intention. But on another level, it didn't matter to him when it happened. In his personal life, he at last had everything he wanted and needed onboard Voyager, having found a depth of contentment and completeness he'd never imagined possible.

Chakotay thought of the changes that had occurred since he'd moved forward with his life. No more waiting for Kathryn to decide on initiating a closer relationship with him, no more frustration, no more empty nights and solitary mornings. Over the years, the captain had told him many times that he was the best first officer she'd ever worked with, and while he appreciated the compliment, that had never been enough. Waiting for her to come to him had worn a hole in his soul that his spirit had seeped through, day after painful day. He'd finally made a decision, and although difficult to act on at the time, he didn't regret it for a moment. While his life was not without challenges, there was now an underlying bedrock of joy that had never existed before. Closing his eyes again, he smiled at the thought.

A gasp to his left brought his head around. His love was finally here, standing at the edge of the verandah.

"Do you have any idea what it does to me when you smile like that?" she asked.

That just brought another smile to his face and he held his hand out to her. She took it and drew his arm around her shoulders as she sat beside him on the bench. He shook his head at her. "You're late, as usual."

Shrugging, she replied, "At least I'm consistent."

"What kept you this time?"

"I needed to untangle a problem in engineering before I could leave."

"More wiring troubles?" he inquired.

Fire flashed in her eyes. "Only inside some people's heads."

"I trust you got them all properly, ah, rewired."

That earned him a delicately arched eyebrow, as if there could be any doubt. They sat silently for a moment, looking at the water together. The breeze blew a strand of her hair loose, and when he reached to tuck it back, his fingers brushed her cheek.

Taking his hand, she said, "Actually, I'm not that late. I've been here for a while."

Chakotay cast her a surprised look. "Really? What have you been doing, then?"

She traced a small scar on the back of his hand with a finger. A remnant from his Maquis days. "Watching you. It's become one of my favorite pastimes. I love watching you when I can't sleep at night. Almost makes insomnia enjoyable."

"In my culture, it's the husband who's supposed to watch over the wife."

Her smile was tender. "What do you say we just watch over each other?"

"Sounds good to me." A thought popped into his head and he couldn't stop his grin.

"What?"

"See how much more entertaining your nights could have been if you'd taken up with me earlier?" he teased.

"You should have declared yourself sooner."

"I thought I had."

Her head tilted as she considered him. "A woman still likes to hear those three all important words."

"Do you mean, 'warp is online,' or 'shields are holding'?" he deadpanned.

"You!" She lunged at him, attempting to tickle him.

"Kathryn, when are you going to learn that I'm not ticklish? Now, you, however…" Chakotay easily scooped her up and deposited her on his lap. Then he proceeded to make her shriek and squirm.

"Okay, uncle, uncle!" she gasped. Once she'd caught her breath, she frowned at him. "I keep hoping I'm going to find at least one ticklish spot on you."

Smiling gently, he shook his head. "No ticklish spots. But I do have a soft spot."

"Oh yeah?" Kathryn poked at his muscular chest and abdomen. "Where?"

Chakotay tapped her nose. "Right there."

"You have a thing for my nose?"

"I have a thing for you," he replied. "You're my soft spot; always have been, always will be. And I gave up a long time ago trying to toughen it up."

"But you did give up." She looked away from him to the waves licking the shore.

"I just gave up waiting for you to come to me."

"Maybe you should have given up waiting a long time ago." Her gaze followed the glittering path of sunlit diamonds dancing across the water.

Following her line of vision, Chakotay turned his eyes from the beauty sitting on his lap to the beauty of the scenery before him. The sun was just starting its descent. "So are you telling me that if I'd openly told you how much I wanted you, how much I loved you, that you would have accepted us a long time ago?"

Reaching up slightly, she kissed his cheek and whispered, "We'll never know for sure, will we? But I'm certain you remember my reaction when you finally did."

Oh, he most certainly did, and it was impossible not to smile at the memory. It had been almost spellbinding to watch, the way she had melted in his arms when he'd boldly kissed her in her quarters and declared his love and desire for her the evening the ship had been fractured into seventeen time zones. He sighed contentedly. There was no point in thinking of past possibilities; there was too much joy to be found in the present. "By the way," he asked, "what's the name of this planet again? Is it Enata Three or Four?"

"Neither," Kathryn informed him. "The Enatas were the last district. This is Elanta Two. Remember, all the districts are made up of precisely four planets per group. Tuvok says it's very logical."

"He would. Thank the spirits that we only have two more planets to get through before we can be underway again."

Her nod was emphatic. "Yes, indeed. Even Tom says he can hardly wait to 'hit the open road' again - whatever that means."

He couldn't resist teasing her. "What? Don't tell me even Captain Janeway has tired of protocol?"

"Don't you start. You may not be ticklish, but I know of other ways to punish you."

So, while the little kitten could purr, she still had her claws. He rubbed his chin against the top of her head. "Any thoughts about what you'd like to do this shore leave? I've heard there are some good hiking trails behind our cottage that lead up to a beautiful lookout over this lake. We could do that tomorrow and have a picnic up there if you like."

"Let's see how we feel in the morning." She tucked her head into his shoulder. "Right now, let's just sit and wait for the sun to go down. I've heard that the sunsets are really spectacular here."

Sitting in the stillness with her on his lap like this, he was certain that this was one of the most perfect moments in all of time. He wrapped both arms around her and drew her close to his chest. With a kiss to her hair, he murmured, "Fine with me."

They sat quietly together watching the explosion of colors shift and undulate across the sky, gradually deepening to inky purple. Eventually only the gentle sound of the water was left, and the chill of the evening air sent them inside to the warmth of the cottage.

The End

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© Brianna Thomas, August 2002 Please email me to post/distribute elsewhere.